Breathe slowly, Inhale exhale, a path I've already walked, but I just can't stop

It's too familiar, this same routine, as I live day by day, it slowly eats at me

Arms Like Yours, Inhale Exhale

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Artemis

I'm perpetually running. No matter where I go, no matter what I do... it ends up like this.

Me. Alone. Running away from the demons of my past and losing a little bit of myself each day. I've always loved running, loved the burn of it, the stretch of my muscles, the way my body glided over the forest floor. I skid to a stop, chant softly under my breath and breathe a sigh of relief when my bag materializes quickly in front of me

Artemis, I can hear my father saying, can almost feel his laughter behind me. You run as if you have wings on your feet!

And with that I reach inside my bag and draw out my bow, positioning myself and steadying my breath. I shape my soul wavelength into an arrow and notch it, standing tall and readying myself against an attack. When it comes, it knocks me flat off me feet, and I barely have time to blink before someone is looming over me, breath warm on my face and knife pressed against the tender skin of my throat.

"You jerk! Seriously, Atlas?" Scowling tightly, I push my best friend off of me, unamused by the stunt he just pulled.

He rolls his eyes, running a hand through his wavy blond hair and smirking, as if I wasn't two seconds away from going berserk on him.

"Chill out, Artemis. You really think that one of them was going to show up here? In case you hadn't noticed," he points out sardonically, "we're in the middle of fucking nowhere. I doubt anyone is on the warpath for a surly werewolf and her charming companion."

I grunt as I stand up, choosing to ignore that last remark, in case I'm tempted to show him what a murderous werewolf looks like. I can't deny that he's right, though. There's no one in this world that would coming looking from me. My name is Artemis Blaze, and I'm the last surviving member of the Blaze pack. The rest of my family was slaughtered by a trio of witches two years ago. Witches who were after the one thing my pack wouldn't give up: me.

"Artemis!" The smoke clogs in my throat and I retch, eyes stinging as I try and navigate my way toward that voice.

"Mom!" I scream, but the only sound that answers me are the howls of my pack as they fight whoever invaded our village and started this fire. Eventually, I see them. Three witches, grinning with malicious glee as they raze my entire world to the ground. I howl, falling to my knees and one of them turns.

Her eyes are blood red.

I shake off the grim memories of my past and glance down at my wrists, both of which are tattooed with a double infinity symbol. One for the promise I made to my father.

"...A-artemis... promise me... you won't let them use you. Promise me you'll do what's right," my father chokes out through the stream of blood pouring from his throat.

Fifteen year old me can do nothing but nod, sobbing as her father's life drains away in her arms.

And one for a promise I made to myself.

"This is all because of me," fifteen year old Artemis murmurs as she watches her life crumble to ashes. Her eyes harden and she lets out a snarl. "I swear I will make them pay."

And two years later? I'm ready to make good on that promise. Even if it destroys me.

Atlas

The first time I laid eyes on the sixteen year old Artemis Blaze, I fell halfway in love. She had been walking down the street, minding her own business, when some punk had decided to get a little touchy-feely with her. She slammed her fists into her jaw, bringing her knee up hard into his groin and knocking him to the floor cold. She blew on her knuckles, flipped her hair, and sauntered away with a smile.

It wasn't a conscious decision to start following her... but I had never met anyone who was that fierce. It didn't hurt that watching her walk was quite an enjoyable activity...her skin was the color of milk chocolate, and she had legs a mile long. Her hips swayed to some silent beat, and her long hair loose and wild. She hummed softly as she continued toward her destination, unaware as I slipped in line behind her. This continued for a couple minutes until she paused by a shop window, admiring a dress on display in the window.

"You gonna tell me why you're following me? Cuz if you're gonna try and play 'grope the unassuming girl', I'll give you the same treatment as grabby hands over there," she said dryly, not once looking away from the dress.

….Okay, so maybe not as unaware as I had previously thought.

That was our first meeting. She had left me there, stunned and more than a little embarrassed, while she continued on her way. Artemis wouldn't let me in easily; I basically had to stalk her for a week until she gave me her name. Grudgingly, we became friends, though we couldn't have been anymore different.

I, the trust fund baby who spent an absurd amount of time and money on anything that would keep me away from home and being sent away to find a meister. The boy who refused to let anyone control him, who wasted his life away by partying.

And her. The mysterious girl with a past that would shock the heartless, who harbored secrets under her flawless appearance, whose pretty green eyes held a world of pain.

Currently, those haunting eyes of hers are pinned on me.

"So, what did you find out? Any leads?" Her voice is calm, collected, but I can tell how anxious she is to hear what I have to say by her stance, by the way sucks her pouty lower lip into her mouth and bites on it.

Since we'd started traveling together, we'd been across the globe searching for information about the three witches who'd murdered her pack in cold blood. We'd found zip, zero, nada, until we'd heard about a sighting of a mysterious woman with blood red eyes. I'd had to fight her on letting me go alone; I knew if it had actually been the real deal, I might have lost the one thing in the world that matters to me.

"No," I say softly, "it was a dead end." I watch as the light in her eyes dims slightly.

As a weapon without a meister, I had never experienced the bond that I had always heard spoken of, the bond between two souls that was held sacred above all things. But I liked to think if I had ever come close to that feeling, it would be with the girl standing by my side.

"Aww. Cheer up, pup," I teased affectionately, ruffling her hair and laughing as she huffs and shoves me away, unable to fight the crooked smile twitching on her lips.

"Don't call me pup, unless you want to wake up one morning without me," she threatens, but there's no real heat behind it and we both know it. Without each other we have nothing. I don't even have time to blink before she chants something quietly and snaps her fingers, tossing the backpack that appears out of thin air at me. I open it, raising an eyebrow when I see that it's filled with cash...and not much else.

She shrugs, smirking. "I figured we could take a break. Maybe hit Vegas?"

Holy hell, I love this girl. I pump my fist in the air as an answer and walk behind a tree to where I parked Delilah, my motorcycle. I swing myself onto her, snapping on my helmet and lightly pressing down on the pedal. I turn my head to see Artemis transformed, my breath catching just like it always does.

Because in the place where my best friend stood only moments before was a wolf. Not the conventional kind either. More of a cross between a real wolf and something older...something feral. She's more than at home in her wolf skin, pelt as sleek and as black as the night sky peppered with stars, wicked canines bared in an imitation of a grin as she looks at me. But her eyes stay the same. Oh so human, and green as the forest floor, the sight of them reassures me and I rev the engine at her.

"Race you?" I say cockily, and she barks at me once, as if to say just watch me. I slam my foot down and we're off, Artemis easily keeping pace beside me as she raises her muzzle and salutes the moon with a long howl. She can do it without worrying someone will find us for now, but considering the way trouble seems to follow the two of us, I just can't escape the sinking feeling we're bound to run into something eventually.

Artemis

We're a couple hours away from Las Vegas when an idea hits me. I stop, tumbling forward and landing on my feet in human form, shaking out my hair and stretching my muscles. Atlas grinds to a stop next to me, raising an eyebrow.

"Thought you couldn't wait to party it up in Sin City," he comments dryly after raising the visor on his helmet. "What's with the sudden holdup?"

I shoot him a glare that conveys exactly how much I care about the snarky attitude he's giving me. Then I study him for a moment, unsure how to put what I'm feeling into words.

"Transform," I ask him quietly. I decide to just approach the matter directly and see how he reacts.

Close as we may be, Atlas hates his weapon form and rarely allows me to see him in it, let alone wield him. He frowns, and searches my eyes. I'm not sure what he finds in them, but he exhales shakily and nods. The amount of trust he's placing in me right now... I don't allow myself to dwell on it as he swings over the side of his bike, splitting into two Sai that I catch easily. He's let me wield him once before, but we never really checked to see if our wavelengths were a close enough match. I hold him and balance, feeling our souls mesh and reveling in the connection.

His weapon form is gorgeous, two long pointed Sai with red and black hilts that are inlaid with gold. His tips are sharp enough to pierce skin and I can see him through the thin blade. Atlas pokes his head out and raises an eyebrow at me again, patiently awaiting an explanation for the delay in our trip. He's really not going to like this plan.

"You know how your parents wanted you to attend Shibusen? Well, we're about to make their dreams come true."

His jaw drops and he springs out of my hands, returning to his human form. He's speechless for a moment, which is a good look for him, because everytime he speaks I end up with an overwhelming urge to smack him.

"Y-you...ARE YOU INSANE?! That place is full of stuck-up snotty meisters and their bratty weapons, who, might I add, probably won't take kindly to a werewolf who possesses abnormal magical abilities and her pretty-boy weapon friend joining their ranks!"

I stare at him as he goes on his little tirade, then roll my eyes and yawn, which causes his eye to twitch.

Good.

"Are you done? I don't care if you are, I'm going to start talking anyway. First off, I can just use Soul Protect to pass myself off as a regular human meister. You, of course, will pose as my weapon. The only thing that might cause a problem is if I'm forced to use my magic, but I'll be fine without it. Otherwise..? I really don't see the issue here. And those snotty, stuck-up kids? Those are your people. You should be ecstatic that there are others out there that are like you, not be putting them down."

My tone is ice-cold and I know he notices it. He runs a hand through his hair and then comes over to me, wrapping me up in his arms. I resist at first, but then snuggle into his warmth, breathing in his familiar scent.

"Look, you're absolutely right," he murmurs into my hair, dropping a kiss onto my forehead. "I just don't understand why this is necessary. We can get info from other places without putting you in danger like this. Because if they find out what you are..."

He doesn't need to finish that sentence. We both know that it won't end anything but bloody if I'm caught.

"I know. But think about it. The very fact that witches and meisters don't get along is going to help us out in this situation! Maybe one of them has battled with that red-eyed witch before!"

Atlas still doesn't look sold on the idea. I pull him down so that our foreheads are touching and look deep into his eyes.

"Atlas, please," I beg, and every ounce of desperation in my voice is raw and open. I can tell that he doesn't want to give in...but in the end he sighs softly and nods.

"Okay," he says slowly, "I'll have my parents make the arrangements."

I breathe a sigh of relief and bury my face in his chest, relaxing at the sound of his heartbeat.

Ba-dum.

Oh, Atlas. What have I gotten us into?

A/N: Sooo. This is a little introductory chapter to Atlas and Artemis. There's going to be a lot of all our favorite main characters in the next chapter! I hope you liked their backstories because I had sooo many different options I wanted to go with... I will reveal more about the three witches and why they wanted Artemis later.

Anyways, Review please! :D